Henry David Reginald Margesson, 1st Viscount Margesson, PC (26 July 1890 – 24 December 1965) was a British Conservative politician, most popularly remembered for his tenure as Government Chief Whip in the 1930s.
His reputation was of a stern disciplinarian who was one of the harshest and most effective whips. His sense of the popular mood let him know when to sacrifice unpopular ministers. He protected the appeasement-supporting government as long as he could. It has been argued that the number of high-profile rebellions during his tenure points to the existence of weaknesses in his system.
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Background and education
Margesson was the third child and elder son of Sir Mortimer Margesson and Lady Isabel, daughter of Frederick Hobart-Hampden, Lord Hobart, and sister of the 7th Earl of Buckinghamshire. He grew up in Worcestershire and was educated at Harrow School and Magdalene College, Cambridge. He did not complete his degree, choosing instead to seek his fortune in the United States of America. Margesson volunteered at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 and served as an adjutant in the 11th Hussars.
Early political career, 1922–1931
After the war, Margesson entered politics at the suggestion of Lord Lee of Fareham. In the 1922 general election, he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Upton.
Very soon after his election, he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of Labour, Anderson Montague-Barlow. In the 1923 general election, he lost his seat, but at the 1924 general election, he returned to Parliament for Rugby, the seat for which he would sit for the next eighteen years. He defeated future Liberal National leader Ernest Brown in the process.
Margesson was appointed Assistant Government Whip. Two years later, he became a more senior whip with the title Junior Lord of the Treasury until the Conservatives' defeat, in the 1929 general election. In August 1931, he was reappointed to the same position upon the formation of the National Government.
Government Chief Whip, 1931–1940
Following the November 1931 general election, he was promoted to the senior position of Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Government Chief Whip). Margesson's position was in many ways unprecedented, having the task of keeping in power a grouping composed of the Conservatives, National Labour and two groups of Liberals (the official Liberal Party and the Liberal National Party) all behind a single government that sought to stand above partisan politics. With the government commanding the support of 556 MPs, as opposed to just 58 opposition members, his main task was to ensure that the government stayed together and was able to pass contentious legislation without risking a major breach within the government.
That proved tricky several times, as different sections of the National combination came to denounce areas of government policy. Margesson adopted a method of strong disciplinarianism combined with selective use of patronage and the social effect of ostracism to secure every vote possible. An example of his methods was his letter to the House of Commons' youngest member, the future minister John Profumo, after the Norway Debate, in which Profumo had opposed other Conservatives. Margesson's letter included the following extraordinary passage: "And I can tell you this, you utterly contemptible little shit. On every morning that you wake up for the rest of your life you will be ashamed of what you did last night." On that occasion, his methods failed.
Despite such behaviour, Margesson remained a much-liked individual, with many members expressing personal admiration for him. Away from his duties he was known to be quite sociable, and within the parliamentary party; few bore him ill. However, a major faultline lay over the question of introducing protective tariffs on imports as a prelude to negotiating a customs union within the British Empire. The proposed policy had deeply divided the Conservatives over the previous 30 years, but by then, they, with most of the National Labour and Liberal National members of the government, had become in favour of the policy during the Great Depression.
However the Liberal Party remained committed to the principle of free trade and were deeply reluctant to compromise. Whilst the Liberals themselves barely commanded the support of 33 MPs, they were one of only two parties in the government with a long independent history, and there were fears that their withdrawal would turn the National Government into a mere Conservative rump, something that National Labour Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald wished to avoid.
Secretary of State for War, 1940–1942
Many were surprised that Churchill retained Margesson as Chief Whip, little realising that there was no personal animosity between the two and that Churchill would have had less regard for Margesson if he had not carried out his functions as Chief Whip. Margesson proved a useful buttress of support as Churchill consolidated his position in government.
Margesson, who was living at the Carlton Club since his recent divorce, was present when it was bombed by the Luftwaffe on 14 October 1940. He was left homeless and had to sleep for a time on a makeshift bed in the underground Cabinet Annexe.
When, at the end of 1940, the position of Secretary of State for War fell vacant, Margesson was promoted to it. Margesson proved competent and efficient, but in February 1942, Britain suffered severe military setbacks, including the loss of Singapore. Churchill was forced to make changes to his ministerial team and find scapegoats for the disasters. Margesson was dropped and replaced by his own Permanent Under-Secretary P. J. Grigg, an unprecedented move. Margesson was first told of the change by Grigg himself but accepted his fate as necessary for the government's future. Later that year, he was made Viscount Margesson, of Rugby in the County of Warwick. His political influence waned sharply. He subsequently worked in the City of London.
Family
Margesson married Frances, the half-sister of Alberta Montagu, Countess of Sandwich and daughter of Francis Howard Leggett and Betty Leggett, in 1916. They had one son and two daughters but were divorced in 1940. Their second daughter, the Hon. Mary, married Lord Charteris of Amisfield. Lord Margesson died in the Bahamas in December 1965, aged 75, and was succeeded in the viscountcy by his only son, Francis.
Book
Stewart, Graham (2000). Burying Caesar: Churchill, Chamberlain and the Battle for the Tory Party. London: Phoenix. ISBN 978-0-75381-060-6.